Unfortunately, Ron Paul is reminding all of us of how racist he is at a time when his son Rand would like most of us to forget the past. His father’s latest utterance is mighty inconvenient as Rand is testing the waters for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, and seeks a greater portion of the Black vote typically allocated to Republicans.

“I was always annoyed with it in Congress because we had an anti-war unofficial group, a few libertarian Republicans and generally the Black Caucus and others did not—they are really against war because they want all of that money to go to food stamps for people here. But when it came to sanctions they just could never vote against sanctions that would prevent war and they wanted to look tough and they would go on with the sanctions but never get the results that they thought there were going to get.”

Ron Paul’s casual racism is unsurprising to anyone who knows even a smidgen of the former Texas congressman’s history, or better yet, the historyof his newsletters. If I were Rand Paul, I’d call my father and tell him to politely be quiet as I seek the nomination of a party who desperately wants me to appear as Kooky Jr. to primary voters. I imagine Jeb Bush and former President George W. Bush have already had a chat about laying low as little brother explores seeking the highest office in the land.

To dismiss a voice like hers under the pretense of just wanting more money for those begging, shiftless, hungry Blacks waiting on the government to send them food stamps is to be shortsighted, stereotypical, and to be blunt, stupid. It is also wrong given that White people are the biggest beneficiaries of food stamps — living in red states, no less.

Unfortunately, even if Ron Paul is considered to be within a fringe sect under the GOP umbrella, he is perpetuating a stereotype that is often used in the GOP. In the last presidential primary, both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum spoke of Black folks’ purported reliance on food stamps. This was their twisted way of “outreach” to Blacks. No wonder the GOP reportedly dropped efforts to do so in 2012.

Last week, freshman Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) reportedly called on constituents of his district to monitor purchases made with debit cards from Food Share, which is Wisconsin’s name for SNAP benefits.

It’s a GOP myth that’s been discredited over and over again. For the lone GOP presidential contender claiming to want to bring more Black people into the party, it’s time for him to speak against such mythology and those who spread it. Even if one of them is his own father.